BURGOO American Bar and Restaurant in Mall of Asia (MoA)

Anything Goes at Burgoo - American Bar and Restaurant

Burgoo is a typical American Bar and Restaurant (which in my opinion is an infusion of both Gumbo and T.G.I.F in terms of the food and beverages). It is well-known for the unusual concept of "unleashing the kid in you" which you will be reading more about in a while. Of course, that is aside from the American favorites such as burgers, pasta and other rice dishes!

We had another Voucher-Family day this month, and the restaurant happened to be Burgoo! As far as I can remember, it was almost 4 years since the last time we ate here. I was full of excitement when I came in, but came out slightly dismayed. Care to know the reason behind that? Well, join me in this blog review!

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The Burgoo American Bar and Restaurant in Mall of Asia 2nd Floor

Something about the Place

What I immediately observed was the circular tables which are unusual because most of the restaurants I've been to always have rectangular, if not square, ones. Anyway, I appreciated them so much because eating on them made our dining experience more "family-inclined", in such a way that we were seated very closely with each other encouraging more conversations! 

Another thing I've noticed about the place was the somehow simplistic design which allowed to exude an organized and neat appearance. 

Extra Note: The place is not conveniently cool during lunch time (perhaps due to the heat penetrating through the glass walls)

Cocktail Station of Burgoo in Mall of Asia

When everything seemed to go very smoothly... bad service happened.

Something about the service
For a while I thought we were untouchables, since the staff ignored us there. Not only were the staff highly snobbish, they are sluggish as well, since it took a while for the dishes to be served. (Sorry for the term, I wrote this part when I was there terribly hungry waiting for the food.), I refuse to take the magnitude of the customer as a highly valid excuse because they should have expected it on a Sunday.

Therapeutic Drawing
It was a good thing they have this concept wherein you can draw on the "table paper" (I don't know how to call it). This enabled us to cool down amid the not-so-great service.

Anyway, check out what we came up with:

Drawing as you wait in Burgoo American Restaurant

Fantastic, huh? 

The Food

Enough of those stuff, let us know proceed with the dishes (which again took a millennium just to arrive).

Manhattan's Best Salad || Regular - P395 || Large - P525

Crisp lettuce with red apples, pineapple bits, croutons and honeyed walnuts in our very own light dressing

Large Manhattan's Best Salad - okay yet plain

If you've been a constant reader of this blog, you will notice that every time we have our family dinner or lunch, we often have a salad dish. This means we already have a good grasp of how salads should be prepared. Anyway, this Manhattan's Best salad was "okay" with its touch of sweet fruity tropical freshness. However, the best part for me was not the salad itself, but the grilled chicken that was included in it. Yeah, it was really tasty, and I enjoyed it. However, considering the overall quality and taste, I don't think this salad was worth the price. In fact, I don't see myself ordering this one again, ever! There are other salads out there which are better and less expensive!

Grilled Chicken Americana || Regular - P395 || Large - P595

Tender and juicy grilled chicken filler served with angel hair in tomato basil sauce

Large Grilled Chicken Americana of Burgoo - more than decent!

Same as with the Manhattan's Best, the grilled chicken was fantastic in term of taste, but definitely more enjoyable if it was more tender. The red sauce was also fine because it was bursting with potent flavor, although it was kind of monotonous (i.e. the flavor lacked an exciting variety). Still, this pasta was more than decent because of the powerful flavor, and this is only one of the two dishes I consider to be worthy enough among all those we had.

Seafood Jambalaya || Regular - P395 || Large - P595

A combination of mussels, calamari and shrimps with chorizo, green peas, green bell pepper and white onions with grain rice with Cajun spices

Regular Seafood Jambalaya - the dish I did not despise

What I loved about this dish was the superb quality of the rice itself. Also, even if it had a strong herby taste, my taste buds were able to fully appreciate it. I felt this one was better than that of Gumbo's because of the ample inclusion of seafood and controlled level of spiciness and flavors. 

Shrimps and Ribs Platter || Regular - P695 || Large - P995 

Mouth-watering (oh really?) combination of barbecued baby back ribs and Cajun spiced fried prawns. Served with U.S. fries and grilled corn on the cob

Large Shrimps and Ribs Platter by Burgoo - Expensive and not-worth it!

Oh my, the shrimps were fantastically fresh and tasty! Sadly, the it took a detour when I tasted the rest. The ribs were a total downer taking away all the goodness of the overall dish. In fact, due to the poor quality of the ribs (i.e. not lean, average taste), this one deserves a loser tag. Instead, I suggest that you try the ribs of Friday's.

Pizza Sampler || P575 

Combination of four different pizza flavors of your choice

Pizza Sampler of Burgoo - unappealing and boring!

I don't want to deal much of this pizza dish because I failed to appreciate it. If you noticed, the appearance is a disappointment, but more so the taste. Hmmmm, now I am doubting whether chefs were the ones who really made this. If if they did, perhaps they were having a bad time? Well, if so, they shouldn't had poured out the hatred and misery on this one. Poor us, we had to suffer. (Hehe, pardon me for some hints of exaggeration).

Budget Information
Prepare to spend at least P500 per person in Burgoo. This dining experience costed us about P560 per person (but sadly we weren't that happy).

Burgoo in a Nutshell and Rating Overview

Place:  ★★★★
Food: ★★☆
Service: ★★★★
Price: ★★☆
(Ratings apply for the dishes we ordered an 
this experience alone)

Keeping everything straight, I was gravely disappointed with our overall dining experience here in Burgoo. This being said, I wasn't impressed by Burgoo (although there were small instances when I appreciated something).

The staff wasn't able to keep up with the magnitude of people, rendering the service below par. The price of the dishes weren't as wallet-friendly but what made me rate Burgoo low in terms of price was the low value of money provided. In short, I am not willing to pay for the dishes I ate!  In view of all these, I do not suggest that you try this one out. You may just get disappointed too like we did.

Burgoo
2/F SouthPark, SM Mall of Asia
Pasay City
Service Charge: 10% before VAT

Menu and Prices: